Discounted teen bus pass expected to get green light

Teens who rely on the LTC to get around town could have some extra cash in their pockets starting this fall.

City council is expected to approve a committee recommendation Tuesday to launch a subsidized bus pass for teens aged 13 to 17 on Sept. 1.

“We want to make it as convenient as possible for youth to get to work and school,” said Coun. Maureen Cassidy, chair of the community and protective services committee recommending the discounted pass for teens.

Monthly passes will sell for $52, a $29 savings from the $81 paid by adult LTC riders.

The discounted passes will be launched as part of a two-year pilot project discussed last fall during budget deliberations.

The city and the LTC would share the cost of the discounted pass, with the city’s share declining with the number of passes sold.

If 500 or fewer teen passes are sold, the city would pay the LTC $20.90 for each monthly pass, an annual cost of up to $125,400. If 2,000 or more teens buy the cheaper pass, the city’s share dwindles to $8.75 each.

The discounted passes won’t affect property taxes because the money will come from an operating budget surplus and a reserve fund.

When the idea was discussed last fall, councillors said the discounted passes would be a way to prime teens for the city’s proposed $500-million bus rapid transit system.

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“We have to train them and make them accustomed to using our public transit system,” deputy mayor Paul Hubert said.

Another councillor suggested getting more teens to ride city buses could reduce the number of school buses on London’s roads.

The number of teens expected to buy discounted passes is hard to predict.

The LTC doesn’t track the proportion of young people in the 23 million passengers it carries a year. Teens can pay using tickets, cash or a regular monthly pass.

Statistics Canada says more than 20,000 people between the ages of 13 and 17 live in London.

The discounted teen pass is one of three subsidized transportation projects for which city councillors agreed in April to set aside $5 million from the $6.9 million surplus from the city’s 2017 operating budget.

The other two programs are free rides for kids 12 and under and a $52 bus pass for low-income adults.

As of today, June 24, 2018, our summer service schedule changes take effect for routes 10/14, 13, 17, 19/31/32, 90 & 92. For more details on route changes pick up a schedule at either London Transit location or online at https://t.co/RtCS3WuOvT. #LdnOnt

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